"Up to now, the best day of my life was when I was selected as a member of the FFI team. Something even better than this could only be..."

"Midorikawa Ryuuji."
The addressed boy sighed in relief when his name was called. Phew! He did it. After the selection match, he had seen his chances of representing their country in the Football Frontier as a member of the Japanese team fade away. Only the best had been invited to play this match. The best had fought for their place in the team. And they all did their very best!

That he, former captain of Gemini Storm, the weakest team of Aliea Academy, was standing there with his name added to the list of the chosen ones, was almost like a miracle for him.
On top of that, it wasn't even Saginuma standing next to him, but no less than Kiyama Hiroto, Gran, his childhood friend, his role model, his idol - and former superior. But their time during Aliea Academy suddenly seemed to be far away. Now he was standing here with his new team. As a member of Inazuma Japan. On the same rank as Hiroto and many other talented players. He did it!

"Forget it!" he screamed desperately. "It won't work anyway."
Hearing Midorikawa Ryuuji scream was a rare occasion. Usually, he was calm and cheerful. Even if he wasn't happy, he never screamed his anger out loud, but rather kept silent. Midorikawa was that kind of person who kept his problems to himself, never talked to anyone about them. Maybe because he didn't want to bother others and also because he simply thought his problems weren't important enough to be told. He didn't want anyone to see his weaknesses. That was something Hiroto had learned especially during the last weeks. If anything, he was the only one in the whole team who had noticed that Midorikawa Ryuuji wasn't feeling well at all recently.
Hiroto got to know the boy with the big dark eyes at an early age, and even if many years had passed since then - during which they went separate ways -, he still knew him well enough to notice when something wasn't right with the green-haired boy.

"It was a mistake to select someone like me, someone from Aliea Academy's lowest rank team, for the FFI," Midorikawa said while panting. He stood there with his head lowered, the upper part of his body bent over and his hands on his knees to keep his balance, while he gasped for breath and focused on the ground to his feet. His fringe was stuck on his forehead, wet from the sweat.
"A mistake?" Hiroto repeated. Up to now, his voice had sounded stern because he tried to motivate Midorikawa to keep practicing. Now, the keenness in his voice was gone. "I don't think so," he answered.

Midorikawa looked up at him, surprised. It was already dark outside and the light of the pitch was scarce. They actually weren't even supposed to be here at this time. But Midorikawa had been on the field many times more than anybody expected during the past weeks, while all others were sleeping.

"After Aliea Academy, you got the chance to play with all others freely. Didn't your play change during that time?"
"My play?" Midorikawa asked, a little unsure. He had no clue what Hiroto wanted to tell him by that.
"As the captain of Gemini Storm, you might have been a little overexerted," Hiroto said. Overexterted? Yes, that was a good word to describe it... "But," the redhead continued. "When it was over, you started playing soccer in your own way and actually enjoyed it, didn't you?" He didn't really wait for Midorikawa to answer. "You were always optimistic and you got back up right away, no matter how many times you fell. You became good enough to compete with Epsilon and Genesis. And now..." Hiroto looked at him with a confident smile. "And now you're here."

Midorikawa gasped. He hated the feeling of a lump in his throat. But the more Hiroto said, the bigger the lump seemed to become. He wasn't far from starting to cry.
"You can do it, Midorikawa," Hiroto kept going. "Have a little more self-confidence!"
Midorikawa blinked, then a smile formed on his lips.
"Alright," he just answered. He wasn't really as convinced as he acted, but Hiroto's words helped him and that was all that counted. The mere fact that someone was here and took his time to practice with him in the middle of the night made him happy.
Hiroto seemed satisfied. "Okay then, let's continue!"

"Midorikawa, you'll leave the team."
The words of their coach kept echoing in his head for a while.

The whole team seemed to be gloomy after Coach Kudou revealed the news. The whole team except Fudou of course. He had just left to go somewhere, where nobody could see if he showed the slightest emotional reaction. Midorikawa didn't mind his absence at all. He didn't value Fudou, out of all people, enough for him to join their little farewell party. Plus, Midorikawa had the feeling that this everything was about Fubuki and not about him in the first place. That's why he left the common room quite early to go to his room which he shared with Hiroto. He didn't even know if the others at least noticed that he was gone.

Midorikawa let out a deep sigh right after closing the door behind his back. It was so exhausting to smile when you were actually about to cry.
He walked over to his bed and sat down. This would be the last night he spent in this bed. His eyes met the suitcase that stood in the middle of the room - packed and ready for departure. Midorikawa's eyes focused on some random spot near its handle until his view became blurred. He thought... maybe it was better this way. Hiroto already said it before: Midorikawa had been overexerted with the whole Aliea thing. It was probably the same with Inazuma Japan. He'd sure feel better when he could play soccer again without any tournament. Right! To play soccer, he didn't need to be here. He could play everywhere. Just...
He leaned back and stared upwards. There were only a few inches between his head and the bedframe above him. It would be strange not to hit his head on the bed anymore.
"Hiroto..." Midorikawa's heart felt like it was tightening in his chest when he thought of the other boy. He'd miss him. Oh, how he would! Hiroto was the only one who had always supported and helped him. Hiroto had believed in him. When one day, Hiroto had walked over to him during breakfast to sit down at the same table, Midorikawa had been happy. But when his former superior had then even asked if he was alright, Midorikawa had hardly trusted his ears. He didn't act noticeable to get sympathy. But still, he had wished, even if only unknowingly, that someone would address the issue. Just as a sign showing that someone was there, someone who was interested in how he felt. Midorikawa was quite sure that the rest of the team should have noticed as well that something was wrong. He had acted peculiar during practice more than often, just because he was in a bad mood. But still, nobody ever asked him about it. Nobody but Hiroto. Midorikawa didn't want to presume anything. But that nobody except Hiroto really knew him was a fact that surely nobody would deny.

Midorikawa got up and sat down on the floor next to his suitcase. He was about to open it to pack the rest of his clothes when the door opened.
"So you did go already," Hiroto said when he saw him. He closed the door behind him and walked through the small room over to the simple wooden desk in front of the window. There he sat down on the chair, backwards, with his elbows on the backrest.
"Endou said you just went to the toilet," he explained.

Midorikawa, who was still sitting on the floor, turned his gaze away and started acting as if he was searching something in his suitcase. In fact, he just didn't want to let Hiroto see how he rolled his eyes. Endou. In 90% of all cases, Hiroto didn't manage not to mention this name within the first five minutes of a chat. He was obsessed! Why did nobody except Midorikawa notice?
"I didn't say that," he answered, and it wasn't even a lie. He had just nodded when their Captain stopped him close to the door of the common room. That was a big difference.
Hiroto smiled gently like he always did. This smile was what Midorikawa had missed the most during their time at Aliea Academy. It had something calming. Hiroto had never smiled so honestly during their Aliea time. That was the reason that had made Midorikawa wonder more than once if what they did was really right.
"Not in the mood for your own farewell party?" Hiroto asked and rested his head on his forearms. He seemed tired. What time was it? Midorikawa didn't check when he went to their room. But he didn't think that Hiroto came just to check up on him, but because he wanted to go to bed anyway.
"You mean Fubuki's party," Midorikawa answered promptly. The words had left his lips before he could even think about them. Midorikawa stopped rummaging in his suitcase but didn't look up from it. Hiroto didn't say anything. He had just raised his head at Midorikawa's words and frowned. After some seconds, he answered.
"What do you mean?"
Midorikawa was quite sure Hiroto knew very well what he meant, and he didn't want to discuss that issue anyway, so he just shrugged it off, closed his suitcase and got up.
"Nothing," he said casually and stretched his arms behind his head, before yawning and then turning his back to Hiroto. "I'm tired," he mumbled while walking to the door. "Gonna brush my teeth." And with that, he left the room.

Midorikawa took his time in the bathroom on purpose. Too bad that this little but treasonous sentence slipped out. He'd have loved to chat a little further with Hiroto, but now he was too scared that Hiroto might address the issue again. At night, when both of them were lying in their beds and the lights were turned off, they often chatted until they fell asleep. During the day, when the whole team was together, there wasn't much time to think about anything but soccer. Not that thinking about soccer was bad... He had enjoyed their time together as well as every single practice. But every now and then, he needed his calmness. And Hiroto was basically the same as calmness. At least for Midorikawa. It must have been because of that smile. Or because Hiroto always used to protect him from Nagumo. And Nagumo had always been anything but calm!
Sighing, Midorikawa walked back to their room. Hiroto would probably be asleep by now. That meant they'd only have tomorrow morning to say goodbye. His heart narrowed when he thought about it. He didn't want to leave.
Slowly, he opened the door, entered the dark room and crawled under his blanket. He stared above him. In the darkness, he couldn't see much of the bunk bed. He hated lying around, trying not to move much and waiting until he'd fall asleep.
If he didn't talk now, he'd start thinking about tomorrow. About the farewell. And then he'd become twitchy an nervous. And then he'd start fidgeting, playing with his hair strands, tugging on the blanket, rolling around and-
"Midorikawa," he heard the voice from the bed above him so suddenly that he twitched. Hiroto's voice sounded a little accusing.
"I'm sorry," Midorikawa mumbled in shame and hid his head under the blanket.
For a moment, it remained quiet, but then, Midorikawa could hear Hiroto turn around in his bed.
"Will you write me?" The question came so abruptly and without context that Midorikawa had to think a moment before he understood what his friend meant. Then he nodded, even if Hiroto couldn't see it.
"Actually, you'd have to write me," he said cheekily. Hiroto laughed.
"I'll do that anyway."
A big smile appeared on Midorikawa's face, even if the thought of the next day still made him sad.
"That's good," he said quietly and closed his eyes.

The next morning came far too soon. Now he was standing there at the airport with all the other members of the team. For Inazuma Japan it was the start of their big adventure. For Fubuki it would be some time in the hospital and for Midorikawa... time to go home. The lump in his throat had been there right when he woke up this morning, and it probably wouldn't go away soon.
"Midorikawa."
He flinched when Hiroto's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He turned around and saw his friend's worried expression.
"I wish we could go together," Hiroto said.
It took Midorikawa a moment until he managed to come up with an optimistic answer, like it was probably expected from him. The first that came to his mind was "Me too" but he refrained from saying it out loud. It was crazy! Hiroto's words had so much more influence on him than the other boy could guess. They made him happy. But the situation that led Hiroto to say them almost made Midorikawa cry.
"I'm sorry," he finally said and smiled. "I did my best, so there's nothing to regret."
Endou and Fubuki, who stood next to them, looked at him sadly and that somehow made him feel more than uncomfortable. Fubuki didn't need any sympathy. He just had to leave because of his injury. Midorikawa, though, was simply not good enough. That was something completely different.

"Now don't get overemotional!" Suddenly, Fudou's voice broke the depressing silence and everyone turned to him. "It's not the end of the world, is it."
"Fudou!" Kidou started warning but suddenly Megane interrupted him.
"But what he says is right. The rules of the FFI say that players are allowed to be changed during the tournament. That means that players who have to leave the team temporarily can come back and play in the next matches."
"Really?" Endou asked.
Obviously, none of them had known about this rule up to this point.
"That's awesome!" Endou grabbed Midorikawa and Fubuki's arms and pulled them closer. "Fubuki, Midorikawa! We'll wait for you. To win, Inazuma Japan needs all its members!"
Suddenly, it felt less difficult for Midorikawa to smile. That he could possibly get a second chance... He never thought about that up to now. So there was still hope after all. It was a huge weight off his mind.
"Then we have to try even harder," Fubuki said to him. "To play with the others again."
Midorikawa nodded.
"When one door closes, another one opens," he said and turned back to Hiroto. "Alright! I'll do my best to come back," he promised.

A little later, the active members of the team and Fubuki left the terminal. Midorikawa was standing in front of the huge glass windows and looked outside to the runways in the distance. Then he looked down at his own hand that had touched Hiroto's only some minutes ago. Shaking hands, promising to see each other again as soon as possible... Hiroto hadn't been gone for half an hour and Midorikawa's optimism was already fading again. Now that he was standing here alone, he couldn't help but to face the cruel reality. He was here. And the others were gone. All his practice had been for nothing. No, that wasn't entirely true. It got him precious time with Hiroto that he wouldn't get from now on. Maybe never again. Talented and successful people tend to forget old acquaintances easily. You couldn't even resent them for it. Such people simply had more important things in their minds. Such as taking part in tournaments for which their acquaintances were not good enough.
Midorikawa blinked when the image in front of his eyes became blurry.
"There you are!" The voice right behind him made him flinch. When he turned around he saw Kira Hitomiko standing right in front of him. "I almost gave up on finding you," she said and picked up his luggage. "Are you coming?"
Midorikawa nodded.
"Y-yes!" he stuttered and looked back at the window one last time before he turned around and followed her.
"I hope you don't mind that I actually wanted to wait for you outside," the young woman apologized to him while they made their way to the exit of the airport.
Midorikawa shook his head.
"It's fine." He was happy that someone came to pick him up in the first place, even if he didn't really understand the decision of the former Raimon coach. She didn't want to say goodbye to Hiroto personally, she had said. But why not? Why could she not just swallow her pride for once? He was sure it would have made Hiroto so happy. But the relationship between him and his sister was still a little tense. Strange, considering how obvious it was that he meant so much to her. Why did she always have to be so uptight? Adults were odd when it came to such things. But on the other hand... Midorikawa thought about it. Actually, he wasn't much better than her. He wasn't honest half as often as people assumed him to be.

Two weeks had passed since Midorikawa left the team. And it was just like Hiroto had said: If you could play freely, soccer was clearly more fun. Midorikawa played every day with the other children in Sun Garden and with Hitomiko's new team, Neo Japan. No, soccer was clearly nothing he would have to miss. Only...

He was lying on the bed in his room and stared at his phone. Should he call? After two weeks? Was that too early? Or even too late? Up to now, nobody contacted him. Probably no time. But when Hiroto was so busy - and he surely was – when should Midorikawa call him at all? He didn't want to bother him...
"Ryuuji," the voice of a woman shouted from the corridor. "Tea is ready. Are you coming?"
"Yes, in a minute!" Midorikawa shouted back.
Meanwhile, a petite brunette woman was standing at the corridor and sighed before going back to the kitchen, where her husband was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper.
"Poor boy," she said worriedly. "...isn't happy at all."
Of course Midorikawa was glad to have a foster family! It had always been nice in Sun Garden and when someone asked him where his home was, he'd always said it's in the orphanage. But a foster family was something not all of them had. That's why he appreciated it and showed gratitude, even if he could never bare his heart to his foster parents the way he could to Hiroto, for example.
He put his phone next to his pillow and got up. He wasn't really in the mood for tea but right now, every distraction was welcomed by him. He had been wondering all the time why nobody called him. Did they forget him so fast? Those cheerless thoughts didn't really make it easier to concentrate on something else. Including soccer of course.
"Do you have any plans for today?" his foster mother asked him after he sat down on a chair. "No, but tomorrow, I want to visit a friend in the hospital, if that would be okay." She nodded with a smile and filled his cup with tea.
"Of course, Ryuuji. You don't need to ask in advance." She was worried, that could be clearly heard in her voice. And he was sorry for that. But he still didn't want to talk to her about his thoughts. She was very nice just like his foster father. But they were still not his real parents. And they couldn't change that he felt lonely. Damn lonely.

to be continued

So this was the first chapter. Not much happens yet, right? ^^" But I promise this changes in the second chapter. :3